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2009-01-0361

Automotive Development Processes and Complete Vehicle Integration: An Intensive Course for Automotive Engineering Graduate Students
Julian Weber
BMW Group

John Ziegert
Clemson University
Copyright 2009 SAE International

ABSTRACT
Clemson University has recently partnered with the State of South Carolina, BMW, Michelin, Timken, and other partner companies to create new MS and PhD programs in Automotive Engineering. These academic programs are housed in a new 90,000 square foot facility located at the newly created Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research (CUICAR) in Greenville, SC. This paper describes a unique course, Automotive Development Processes, developed as a part of the Automotive Engineering curriculum by the authors, Dr. Julian Weber, Manager in BMW Electric/Electronics and Driver Environment development in Munich, Germany, and Dr. John Ziegert, a member of the Automotive Engineering Faculty at Clemson University. Due to geographic and time constraints for Dr. Weber, the course is offered as a 2 week intensive course during the universitys Maymester term.

INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND
Automotive Engineering research has been an historical area of strength within the Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Departments at Clemson University. The importance of this research was strengthened in the mid-1990s when BMW opened their first US manufacturing facility in Spartanburg, SC, about 40 miles from the Clemson campus and a few miles from

the US headquarters of Michelin. Over the next decade, Clemson faculty collaborated extensively with BMW, Michelin, and many of the hundreds of Tier 1 and 2 automotive suppliers located in the region. During these interactions, it became clear that these companies shared an interest in recruiting new engineering employees who were specifically trained in Automotive Engineering. To address this need, Clemson University partnered with the State of South Carolina, BMW, Michelin, Timken, and other partner companies to create new MS and PhD programs in Automotive Engineering. These academic programs are housed at the newly created Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR) in Greenville, SC. CUICAR is a 250 acre research campus open to companies performing research and development in all technological areas relevant to the automotive industry. The Automotive Engineering graduate programs are housed at CU-ICAR in a new 90,000 sq. ft building, the Carroll A. Campbell Graduate Engineering Center (CGEC), with offices for 10 newly hired faculty, including 4 Endowed Chairs in the areas of Automotive Systems Integration, Automotive Design and Development, Automotive Manufacturing, and Automotive Electronics. At steady-state, the program is expected to enroll approximately 75 MS and 35 PhD students. CGEC contains state-of-the-art facilities for automotive research, including:

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x x x x x x x

580 HP hot-fired engine dynamometer 500 HP, 2WD/4WD chassis dynamometer in a anechoic chamber 7-post shaker/road simulator in environmental chamber (-40C to +85C) Dual-arm full vehicle coordinate measuring machine Precision dimensional metrology laboratory RF shielded chamber Manufacturing research laboratory

Integration Concepts and Methods, and Applied Automotive Systems Integration. Students specialize by selecting courses from one of 6 Tracks: x x x x x x Vehicle Materials, Structures, and Mechanics Vehicle Electronics, Computer Systems Mechatronics, and

Vehicle Design and Integration Methods and Tools Vehicle Manufacturing and Production Vehicle Performance (Vehicle Physics) Vehicle Power Systems and Transmissions

MS/PHD PROGRAMS IN AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING

The curriculum for the newly developed Automotive Engineering MS and PhD programs was developed in close collaboration between the Clemson faculty and the partner companies, and focuses on the theme of Automotive Systems Integration. The non-thesis MS program is designed to provide students with in-depth professional training that will give them unique technical and managerial skills, enabling them to quickly assume senior technical management roles in automobile manufacturers and suppliers. MS students must have at least 2 years of Post-BS professional experience prior to acceptance, and are required to complete 36 credit hours over a 2 year period. They must demonstrate proficiency in a foreign language, and complete a 6 month professional internship in a country other than their native country. The MS program has two stems. The curriculum of the Function Stem is designed primarily to meet the needs of Tier 1 and 2 suppliers, while the Systems Stem is designed to meet the needs of automotive OEMS for individuals having knowledge and skills to manage and integrate people, technologies, and suppliers at different stages of the vehicle development and production process chain. Automotive Engineering PhD students must also have 2 years of post-BS professional experience prior to acceptance into the program, although a MS in a relevant discipline can be substituted. PhD students must complete 18 courses (54 credit hours) in addition to their dissertation. They must also demonstrate proficiency in a foreign language and complete a 6 month international internship. The objective of the PhD program is to produce highly trained individuals working at the cutting edge of disciplines critical to the automotive industry. All Automotive Engineering graduate students are required to complete 4 core courses in the areas of Automotive Design/Manufacture & Project Management, Overview of Automotive Systems, Automotive Systems

One of the courses that supports the Vehicle Design Track is AuE 832 Vehicle Development and Integration Methods, Processes, and Tools. While some authors have described the automotive design process, e.g Braess & Seifert [2005] and Happian-Smith [2002], we are unaware of any text or academic course that addresses the complete scope of the development process from the point of view of the automotive OEM. This paper describes this course in detail, and summarizes lessons learned during the first 2 offerings. The course was co-taught by the authors; Dr. Julian Weber, Manager in BMWs E/E and Drivers Environment development in Munich, Germany, and Dr. John Ziegert, a member of the Automotive Engineering Faculty at Clemson University. Due to geographic and time constraints for Dr. Weber, the course was offered as a 2 week intensive course during May, 2007 and May, 2008. The balance of this paper describes the objectives and content of the course.

COURSE OBJECTIVES AND STRUCTURE

The objective of this course is to provide students with a system level understanding of OEM vehicle development processes including: x x x x x x x x x x Organization of vehicle development projects Cost structures Product specification and target setting Concept development and vehicle architecture Vehicle Platforms Component development Development tools Quality methods and tools applied to design Prototype development Systems integration methods

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x x

Vehicle testing Lifecycle product management

While students learn about the broad variety of processes that are necessary on different levels to develop a vehicle, the course focuses in-depth on the processes of functional integration that contribute to the realization of important customer-relevant vehicle characteristics, e.g. design appearance, agility, cabin comfort, passive safety, theft deterrence, or reliability. The course is structured as a series of lectures, guest speakers from automotive industry, plant tours, and project activities. It meets for approximately 6 hours/day for 2 weeks during the period in May between Spring and Summer terms. The topical schedule is: Automobiles and the Automotive Industry x x Course introduction Automotive industry today - BMW Group a portrait - Auto industry in the USA - Auto customers: US vs. Europe - Social aspects of autos - Sustainability

- System requirements - Geometrical integration - Functional clearance - Further functional evaluation Complete Vehicle Development x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x Customer requirements Target management Problem management Engineering change management Building and testing prototypes Complete vehicle quality Sign-off process Complete vehicle testing

Functional Design and Integration Vehicle dynamics Operational strength Performance, fuel efficiency, and emissions Vehicle acoustics Registration approval Passive safety Thermal comfort Value Perceived Interior

Vehicle Development Projects x x x x x Categories of vehicle projects The Product Evolution Process (PEP) Vehicle project management International development projects Product Strategy - Winners and losers - Worldwide market presence - Product portfolio - Product positioning - Product properties

Electronic System Design and Integration Electronic system design and integration Electro-magnetic compatibility

Supplier Integration Automotive suppliers Cooperation models Responsibility levels International purchasing; natural hedging Supplier management ISO/TS 16949 Guest Speaker: A Suppliers View: benefits and challenges of developing and producing for an OEM from a suppliers point of view wages, currency,

Phases of Vehicle Development x x x x OEM Design CoCs (power train, chassis, body and exterior, interior) CAD and CAE systems Release processes Component Design - Component specification - Design CoCs - Methods, tool, and processes - Materials Virtual Car Process - Building virtual cars

Production Integration x x x x x x Production systems Core automotive production processes Product launch Manufacturability assessment of virtual and real cars Measuring production-related maturity Functional dimensions, cubing

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x x

Aspects of international production Tour of BMW Plant Spartanburg, SC: - Production technologies: Body shop, paint shop, assembly line, logistics - Complete vehicle testing - Product engineering

Service Integration x x Service related processes in the PEP Evaluation of serviceability

Fig. 1: Front axle of the model car with adjustable geometry and spring-damper system

In addition to the actual processes, the course also focuses on the human aspects that steer automotive development. Examples taken from real-life vehicle development projects illustrate the different targets, and motivators that informally control the behavior of the people involved in the processes. An important example is the clash of cultures that regularly happens when software and hardware engineers co-operate in a vehicle project.

Just as in real vehicle projects, development costs are a decisive constraint. Each team is provided with a fixed project budget from which all new components, tools, paint etc. must be paid. The budget can not be overdrawn and thus limits the extent to which design changes are possible. The actual project task is to optimize the basic vehicle according to a set of customer relevant vehicle characteristics discussed in the course. This optimization is achieved by modifying the base configuration of the vehicle. Alternative components, settings and configurations are implemented and then tested against the desired targets. The test results reveal whether the design measures taken are favorable or not and illustrate the conflicts and tradeoffs in achieving the targets. In order to obtain objective test data for the complete vehicle characteristics, each vehicle is equipped with a wireless 3-axis accelerometer system (see fig. 2) that allows quick analysis of acceleration values via a laptop computer.

TEAM PROJECT COMPLETE VEHICLE OPTIMIZATION

In parallel to the course lectures, guest speeches, and plant tours; a team project allows students to translate the theoretical material from the lectures into hands-on practical experience. Within the available timeframe, the project mimics the development processes, and evokes the target conflicts that usually come with the realization of complete vehicle functions. Project Task For the project, each team is provided with a 1/10th scale radio-controlled model car, that allows adjustment of chassis geometry (toe, camber, ride height) and springdamper-characteristics, and can be equipped with alternative components such as motors, transmissions, battery packs, tires, springs, or body shells. As an example, fig. 1 demonstrates the adjustability of the rear axle.

Fig. 2: Sun spot 3-axis accelerometer fixed to the vehicles base plate

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Vehicle Evaluation As the highlight and wrap-up of the course, the project teams compete on the final day of the class, and each vehicle undergoes a series of tests and evaluations relative to each of the complete vehicle characteristics. For each test, the vehicles are ranked, either by subjective evaluation of a panel of judges or by objective test result data. The evaluation procedure to be followed is provided to the students on the first day of class, and lists the relevant complete vehicle characteristics to be evaluated together with the respective test criteria:
1. Registrability Does the car comply with all regulatory requirements so that it can be registered? This is a fundamental requirement that production vehicles must satisfy in order to be able to enter the marketplace. For this exercise, we simulate this by placing restrictions on the overall size and weight of the vehicle. Criterion 1-1: Weight The total vehicle weight must be less than 125% of the base vehicle weight, including batteries and the accelerometer (see fig.3). Vehicles exceeding this limit will be disqualified. Criterion 1-2: Foot Print The vehicle width must be less than 228 mm, and the length must be less than 482 mm. Vehicles exceeding this limit will be disqualified.

Criterion 2-1: Production cost Each team may spend (and be reimbursed for) up to $200 for the purchase of parts/components to modify their vehicle. Any component on the vehicle can be modified, eliminated, and/or replaced; but the actual retail cost when new for any component must be reported and verified. Teams are ranked and scored according to how much of their development budget was used. Criterion 2-2: Operating cost For this test, starting with a fully charged battery, each vehicle completes laps on a circular track at full throttle until the battery dies. The objective is to operate for the longest time relative to the battery rating, defined as (seconds of operation)/(battery rating). Teams may choose to replace the original battery pack with another, so long as the manufacturer has rated the battery pack for the number of milli-ampere-hours of energy stored in it. All other drivetrain components may also be modified or replaced. 3. Design appeal: Styling, practicability, and ergonomics are critical aspects of the consumers evaluation of a vehicle, and are inherently subjective judgments. For this exercise, teams may make any modifications they wish to enhance the visual appeal of their vehicles. Criterion 3-1: Design appeal A panel of judges, consisting of faculty and staff of varying ages and gender, subjectively evaluate and rank the vehicles on their overall aesthetic appeal (see fig. 4).

Fig. 4: Jury assessing vehicle design appeal Fig. 3: Assessment of complete vehicle weight 4. Ride quality: 2. Total vehicle costs: Consumers are very concerned with both the initial price and the total operating costs of vehicles they are purchasing. For this exercise, we simulate the challenge of achieving a low initial cost by allowing the teams free choice of how they modify their vehicle, but rewarding those teams that achieve good results with the least expenditure. Operating cost is simulated as an equivalent fuel economy measured in an endurance test. Ride quality is another important consumer aspect in vehicle purchase decisions. Although consumers make a subjective judgement, this attribute can be quantified during testing. The model vehicles given to the student all have independent suspensions in which the tires, springs, dampers, and suspension attachment points can be modified.

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Criterion 4-1: Ride quality To evaluate the ride quality of the vehicle, each team is required to drive their car over a section of patterned driveway. The vehicle must start from rest and complete the distance (approximately 25 meters) in less than 3 seconds. The operator may vary the speed of the vehicle along the length of the track to obtain the best result. Vertical acceleration data is collected and averaged over 3 runs, and is presented it in the form of a frequency spectrum. The goal is to show the lowest peak acceleration in the range of 4 to 20 Hz.

Criterion 5-2: Handling Each vehicle is required to drive in a circular pattern on a flat concrete surface for a period of 30 seconds, while remaining inside a circle approximately 5 meters in diameter. Teams must collect lateral (centripetal) acceleration data during the complete test. The goal of this test is obtain the highest sustained lateral acceleration that can be achieved while remaining inside the circle. The data is analyzed utilizing the same filter used in the acceleration test to determine the peak value. 6. Passive safety: Crash safety as the capability to mitigate injuries resulting from accidents is a critical consideration during vehicle development and subject to rigid legal requirements. For this exercise, passive safety is measured by the maximum negative longitudinal acceleration the vehicle experiences when hitting a solid wall. Criterion 6-1: Passive Safety Vehicles are required to be driven into a rigid barrier at full throttle from a distance of 0.5 meters (see fig. 6). Teams collect longitudinal acceleration data during the complete test, with the goal of obtaining the lowest value of peak deceleration during the impact.

Fig. 5: Assessment of ride comfort by measurement of vertical acceleration on cobblestone 5. Agility Customers virtually always test drive a vehicle prior to purchase. One of the primary attributes they consider during the test drive is the agility of the vehicle, including speed capability, acceleration, braking and handling/steering. For this exercise, the acceleration and handling are objectively evaluated as described below. The model vehicles used in this exercise do not have brakes, and therefore this aspect is not simulated. Criterion 5-1: Acceleration Each vehicle completes three full-throttle acceleration tests over a track approximately 20 meters in length on a smooth concrete floor. Teams collect longitudinal acceleration data during the complete test. The raw longitudinal acceleration data is then low-pass filtered rd using a 3 order Butterworth filter with a 2 Hz cut-off frequency and 1000 Hz sampling rate, and the highest value obtained from the filtered data is considered the peak acceleration value. The purpose of the filtering is to attempt to eliminate noise in the data and estimate the sustained acceleration the vehicle can achieve over brief periods of time. In addition to the acceleration data, the elapsed time to complete the total track length is recorded. The goal of this test is to maximize the ratio of peak acceleration to elapsed time. The length of the track is chosen so that most cars will reach their top speed, thus forcing the teams into considering the trade-off between lower gear ratios in the drivetrain to maximize initial acceleration, and the resulting loss in top speed.

Fig. 6: Set-up for crash test 7. Reliability: Aftermarket costs for warranty or repair are a critical component of the overall profitability of a vehicle. Additionally, operational reliability is a key factor in customer loyalty. For this exercise, reliability is measured by the overall damage and/or loss of functionality a vehicle suffers during the evaluation. Criterion 7-1: Reliability Judges rank the vehicles based on the damage, losses of functionality, and required repairs during the tests. 8. Sustainability: Globally, the automobile has an enormous impact on the environment and resource utilization. Auto manufacturers are under increasing pressure, both from regulatory bodies and consumer preference, to produce sustainable vehicles with sustainable processes. Criterion 8-2: Sustainability Each team is required to prepare a brief report describing how each of their vehicles components impacts the

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environment, how it might be recycled, and any suggested future modifications to improve sustainability.

Point scores are assigned according to the ranking for each criterion (see fig. 6). The highest total score indicates the winning team.

There is no clear set of design modifications that will guarantee a winning combination of vehicle characteristics. Some teams may elect to use a low cost, low performance, but safe and reliable strategy and hope to win on tests 2, 4, 6, and 7; while accepting a lower ranking in tests 3 and 5. Other teams may choose a performance and style strategy, emphasizing tests 3, 4, and 5, but accepting a lower ranking on cost and perhaps safety. Many other strategies are also possible. When the teams develop their strategy, they must also set targets for each category that they believe will place them at the top, middle, or bottom of the rankings for that category. They must set those targets without exact knowledge of what strategy the other teams are choosing, and therefore without knowing what is required to be best in class for any particular aspect of the vehicle they are considering. Real vehicle development teams face similar challenges when they try to estimate what their competitors are doing and what will constitute best in class vs. acceptable several years into the future when their vehicle is first offered for sale. The overall intent of the project is to have the students experience first-hand the conflicting demands and design goals that are inherent in automotive development processes, and to understand that a key to success in this activity is to clearly define a consistent set of targets that the team believes will result in a successful vehicle concept along with a strategy for achieving those targets. To be successful, the correct choice of strategy and targets must also be supported by good engineering practice, early and frequent testing, and refinement based on test results. Finally, students get valuable experience in team-based project management, scheduling, and communication while under tight time constraints.

Fig. 6: Competition scoreboard

Project Presentation Prior to the evaluation tests, each team is asked to make a brief, 15 to 20 minute, presentation on their work describing thought processes and strategies that resulted in their targets for each test in the competition, and a brief explanation of how they hoped to achieve those targets, and the actual engineering processes they used during the vehicle modification process. The evaluation tests are intentionally designed so that improving performance in one area makes it difficult to improve in other areas. For example, improvements to the vehicles acceleration to perform better in Test 5-1 will make the impact with the barrier in Test 6-1 occur at a higher speed and may lead to a lower score on Test 61, and may also cause additional damage during the impact test, which will affect the reliability rank in Test 71. The student teams are expected to apply the vehicle development processes they learn about in the course lectures during the team project. They are encouraged to benchmark the vehicle performance for each of the tests described above in the as-received configuration. They then must devise an overall strategy for the contest that they believe will result in a winning design. The scores for each component of the contest are purposely awarded based on the rank order of the vehicles rather than on some absolute scoring scheme. We feel this mimics the real-life vehicle development process in two important ways:

CONCLUSION
The process of developing a successful new automobile that is desirable to consumers, safe and reliable during use, and profitable for the automaker, is long and complex. It entails much more than engineering optimization of discrete and unconnected sub-systems; and is characterized by conflicting targets, requirements, and demands, with no clear and obvious combination of simultaneously achievable characteristics that will guarantee success. The goal of the course described here is to provide MS and Ph.D. level students in Automotive Engineering with an understanding of how this process is carried out by a successful automaker. It describes the variety of factors that must all be considered throughout the process and successfully integrated to achieve success. The importance of early

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consideration of the complete vehicle characteristics in relation to the target market and the current and projected competition is stressed. Methods are described for strategic identification of combinations of vehicle characteristics and setting of appropriate targets for these characteristics in the early stages of the development process is emphasized. Major subsystems are identified and students are introduced to the tools and processes used in their design and integration. Manufacturing considerations, including logistics and supplier identification and management are discussed; and issues of serviceability and warranty costs are introduced. Students in the two-week intensive course also directly experience this process through a team project where they are provided with a radio-controlled model vehicle and onboard instrumentation, and asked to modify the vehicle to optimally perform in a series of objective tests

and subjective judgments of a number of vehicle characteristics. The project is intentionally structured so that improvements in one area will almost certainly result in losses in another, thus mimicking the real-world development process. The enthusiasm the students showed during the group project and their very positive feedback to the course as a whole encourages us that this format is a suitable way of teaching comprehensive and applicable skills in automotive development.

REFERENCES
[1] Braess H-H, Seiffert U (2005) Handbook of Automotive Engineering. SAE, Warrendale (PA) [2] Happian-Smith J (2002) An Introduction to Modern Vehicle Design. SAE, Warrendale (PA)

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